Methodist Ladies' College, Perth (MLC Perth), is an independent, Uniting Church,

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls, in Claremont, a western suburb of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. Founded by the Methodist Church of Australia in 1907, MLC is a non-selective school, and in 2024, it had about 1,040 girls from pre-kindergarten to Year 12, including 90 boarders. The college was ranked as the number one TEE school in the state for 2006 and 2008 seeing 55.1 percent of students achieving a mark of seventy five percent or above in at least one subject.

History

The foundation stone of the Methodist Ladies' College was laid, and building began in 1907, by the Methodist Church of Australia. Classes were first commenced in February 1908 with 31-day girls and 23 boarders. The early traditions of the college were established by Maud Connell, Head Mistress from 1908 to 1913, who chose the colours of green and gold, and the school

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

''Per Ardua Ad Alta'', which may be translated from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as "Strive for the Highest". She was succeeded by Gertrude Mary Walton who allowed students to learn at their own pace using the Dalton Plan. In 1917, MLC's first

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

students graduated from the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, which had begun teaching in 1913.MLC 100- Timeline
(accessed:27-05-2007) Walton retired in 1945 when the Dalton Plan was still in operation. During her retirement she wrote a history of the school and a guide to her educational approach. In 1957 the new library was named after Walton who had believed that a love of books was more important than academic achievement. MLC became a school of the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

in the 1970s, as the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

and Congregational Churches came together to form the Uniting Church.

House system

As with most Australian schools, MLC utilises a house system through which girls participate in inter-house activities. When the house system first came into effect in June 1927, there were four houses: Athens, Rome, Sparta and Troy. In 1967, two more houses were added, Corinth and Olympia. Each house is named after a famous ancient city. * Athens – green * Corinth – purple * Olympia – white * Rome – red * Sparta – yellow * Troy – blue Annual house events include: * House Singing, Mime and Drama Day (HSMD), in which every girl from years 7 through to year 12 compete in at least one activity for their house. The points are recorded throughout the year and the winning house is awarded the Heather Lamont Cup. * A choir performance conducted by two Year 12 students. Each house performs one song chosen by the conductresses. Part of HSMD. * A mime performance for students in Years 7, 8 and 9, directed by two Year 11 students. Part of HSMD. * A drama performance for Years 10, 11 and 12 students, directed by two students from Year 12. Part of HSMD. * Interhouse Sports – Throughout the year the students participate in many sporting activities for their house, such as swimming in term 1, and athletics in term 2. A new initiative in 2010 is The Spirit Cape. In all house events, houses will also compete for the Spirit Cape with it being awarded to the house that shows the most spirit over the course of the day. At the end of the year, one house will be awarded the Spirit Cape for the showing the most year-long house spirit. In 2010, Athens won the inaugural year-long Spirit Cape.

Annual events

MLC holds a large number of events annually for sports and the arts, including: * The Heather Lamont Festival, named after Heather Lamont, a boarder from 1958–1959, who was killed in an accident on her parents' farm during the Christmas holidays. It became a house competition featuring activities such as singing, dancing, music, Languages; French, German and Japanese, cooking, photography, visual art, debating, public speaking and drama. * College Sunday, a church service held in late March for all students and their families. Attendants wear white and there are performances from different groups in the college.

Academics

ATAR for Year 12 students Year – Rank – Median score 2019 – #6 – 89.95 2018 – #4 – 92.55 2017 – #19 – 87.5 2016 – #9 – 90.3 The school has performed well in the WACE exams and is often rated as one of the best schools in the state.

Notable staff and alumnae

The painter and potter Flora Annie Landells was an art teacher here from 1908 to 1948. Alumnae of MLC are known as Collegians.MLC Perth- Collegians
(accessed:27-05-2007) Some notable Collegians include: ;Entertainment, media and the arts * Jill Birt – Keyboard player for '' The Triffids'' * Estelle Blackburn – Award-winning journalist * Isla Fisher – Actress in television show ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

'' and film '' Wedding Crashers'' and '' Confessions of a Shopaholic''. She married Sacha Baron Cohen on 15 March 2010, in Paris. Fisher and Baron Cohen have a daughter, Olive, born 19 October 2007, in Los Angeles. * Trilby Glover – Actress in television show '' The Starter Wife'' * Nicole Harrison – Model * Dorothy Hollingsworth – Creator and presenter (known as 'Miss Fleming') of ABC Radio series ''Let’s Join In'' from 1951–1989MLC 100 Retrospective
(accessed:27-05-2007) * Georgi Kay – Musician * Holly Ransom – Social entrepreneur and activist * Rose Skinner – Art-dealer * Freya Tingley – Actress * Bridget Malcolm – Model * Hannah Fairweather – Comedian/Writer ;Medicine and science * Freda Jacob – Founder of the Independent Living Centre of Western Australia * Marjorie Jean Lyon – Surgeon and Prisoner of war ;Politics, public service and the law * Mia Davies – Leader of the National Party in Western Australia * Chris McDiven – Federal President of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

(also attended Penrhos College, Perth) * Kezia Purick – Northern Territory politician, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly * Lisa Scaffidi – Lord Mayor of Perth ;Sport * Nicole Bolton – international cricketer (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) * Rachel Harris – Olympic swimmer, Sydney 2000; Commonwealth Games swimmer, Kuala Lumpur 1998 (Gold Medallist) * Minjee Lee – Professional and Olympic golfer (also attended Corpus Christi College, Perth) * Elise Rechichi – Olympic sailor, Beijing (Qingdao) 2008 (Gold Medallist) * Allana Slater – Olympic gymnast, Sydney 2000; Commonwealth Games gymnast, Kuala Lumpur 1998 (Gold Medallist), Manchester 2002 (Gold Medallist)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Girls' schools in Western Australia Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools in Western Australia Boarding schools in Western Australia Educational institutions established in 1907 Former Methodist schools in Australia Uniting Church schools in Australia Private primary schools in Perth, Western Australia Private secondary schools in Perth, Western Australia Claremont, Western Australia 1907 establishments in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia